Extension-led leadership programs provide economic benefits. Historically, evaluators have struggled to quantify these benefits as compared to costs. Further, leadership programs have both public and private value, which are difficult to quantify. To address gaps in understanding the value of leadership development programs, we quantified the…

As community members continue to experience racial trauma at both individual and community levels, our Extension team responded by adapting an anti-racism leadership training program to be more trauma-informed. Our team designed a tool using Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's trauma-informed principles to support public…

This chapter provides information about linking undergraduates' leadership development assessment to institutional student learning outcomes illustrated by a case example at the University of Minnesota.

This descriptive study explored how community colleges are teaching leadership in technical programs. Leadership education curricular offerings were identified via a survey and selected programs reviewed. 68 Deans, Directors, or Chairpersons of a Business, Management, or Technology program completed the survey, representing 61 community colleges.…

Leadership education must evolve to keep pace with the growing recognition that effective leadership happens in a complex environment and is as much a systemic variable as a personal one. As part of a program review process, a graduate leadership program at a private Midwestern university conducted a qualitative review of 18 online graduate…

Current research on millennials primarily focuses on their behavior within an academic or workplace setting. This study expands on previous analysis by exploring how millennials respond to community leadership efforts, particularly cohort leadership programs. Participant outcomes from University of Minnesota Extension's County Bridging Leadership…

With young people, discussing complex issues such as learning and leading in a focus group can be a challenge. To help prime youth for the discussion, we created a focus group approach that featured a fun, interactive activity. This article includes a description of the focus group activity, lessons learned, and suggestions for additional…

Competency-based approaches to education are becoming increasingly common in higher education. One of the key principles of competency-based education is flexibility, which "allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning" (U.S. Department of Education). In some…

This study characterized perceptions of agricultural leadership programs in colleges of agriculture, food, life, human, or environmental sciences at 1,862 land-grant institutions. Objectives included describing the need for programs, studying evolution within the discipline, discussing faculty recommendations for future development, and examining…

Current world events demand public affairs leadership training that generates among professionals a sense of capability, agency, and responsibility to engage in complex public problems. In this paper, we describe a unique course operated in the US focused on achieving these learning outcomes. It uses an unconventional schedule and course design…

Because information technology continues to change rapidly, Extension is challenged with learning and using technology appropriately. We assert Extension cannot shy away from the challenges but must embrace technology because audiences and external forces demand it. A hybrid, or blended, format of a leadership cohort program was offered to public…

This article will present information and research on how a college of education is intentionally developing principals to lead with confidence and racial competence. The nation's student achievement research is sobering: our current school systems widen already existing gaps between white students and students of color, (Darling-Hammond, L. 2004,…

Incoming first-year college students completed a leadership survey prior to any formal leadership education. These students were reassessed during the spring of their senior year; 386 students completed both surveys. The differential effect of 33 leadership and demographic variables on change in hierarchical and systemic leadership beliefs were…

A recent study of the Minnesota Agriculture and Rural Leadership (MARL) program set out to determine the relationship between andragogical program design and increased levels of emotional intelligence (EI). Members of two cohorts in the MARL leadership development program received different levels of focused effort, peer coaching, individual…

As our communities strive to support community change efforts for survival and vitality, the importance of social capital has become evident in leadership development. Many researchers and practitioners realize that tapping into the inherent power of relationships and social networks is crucial. This paper provides an overview of the design and…